


wishing the world would melt away (before I melt down)

by marvelousbutterfly



Series: Autistic Peter Parker [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Peter Parker, Fluff, Gen, Headcanon, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Mentor/Protégé, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sensory Overload, Tony Stark Has A Heart, author is projecting, meltdowns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelousbutterfly/pseuds/marvelousbutterfly
Summary: He could still taste the spicy mayonnaise from the sandwich he had at lunch, he couldn't avoid the lights sharply reflecting on the tools, and his clothes seemed to get itchier by the second, it was all too much, too much, too much. Before he could stop himself, he felt his fists hitting on the side of his head repeatedly."...ter? Peter! Kid, what's going on?"orIn which Peter is autistic and has a meltdown in front of Tony for the first time. Understandably, Tony freaks out (though he'll never admit it).Fluff ensues.------------(This is my first fanfic, which I've written based on my experiences. Please give it a chance! Don't forget to leave kudos and a comment <3)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Autistic Peter Parker [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985854
Comments: 22
Kudos: 312





	wishing the world would melt away (before I melt down)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fanfic, I hope you enjoy it!  
> Peter's autism is based on my own experience, as well as his sensory overload and meltdown. Every autistic person is different, so these descriptions may not apply or be relatable to all.  
> This work describes an autistic meltdown caused by sensory overload, and harmful stims, so please proceed with caution.  
> Also, English is not my first language, so please forgive me for any mistakes.  
> Shout out to [Mr_Lonely](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Lonely) for beta reading this!  
> Enjoy! <3

When Peter woke up that morning, he knew it was going to be a bad day. He got ready for school with the lights off, because there was no way his eyes could handle the artificial light. Picking his clothes also proved to be a challenge; even his softest hoodies felt like thousands of needles poking his over sensitive skin. Finally, he settled on his AcaDec hoodie, which had no tags, and a soft pair of sweatpants, since he knew he wouldn't be able to wear jeans. While putting on his usual pair of sneakers, he made sure to tie the shoelaces as tightly as possible, in hopes that the pressure would help regulate his overwhelmed senses.

After grabbing some of his safe food for breakfast on his way out - currently, a bottle of strawberry milk - he put on his noise cancelling headphones and headed towards his next enemy: the subway. It was packed with people, as always, everyone was talking loudly or tapping their fingers on the benches to the rhythm of whatever music they were listening to. He could smell every single perfume, deodorant and toothpaste in there, along with the peppermint chewing gum in the mouth of an annoyingly loud chewer sitting too close to him for his liking. Stimming while squeezed inside a subway car wasn't easy, so Peter closed his eyes and played with the knots on the end of his hoodie strings, hoping that his headphones would be enough to keep his senses from getting even worse. They weren't.

Still recovering from his nightmarish subway ride with some vigorous stimming, Peter arrived at school. The whole day he wore his headphones, and kept his favorite fidget cube in hands. His chewable necklace was also with him, though he kept it under his hoodie and barely used it in front of people - Flash would never leave him alone if he saw it -, so he resorted to chewing on the strap of his backpack instead.

Masking at school was not an easy task, especially when he was on the verge of a sensory overload. Peter's had them since he was a kid, though he wouldn't know what they were until he was diagnosed as autistic at age 12, but they had gotten so much worse after the bite. Thankfully Mr. Stark had created some stim toys and other helpful items better adapted to his powers. Peter had told him about his autism after he had a sensory overload so bad it led to a shutdown when he was staying at the Tower one weekend. His mentor had gotten so worried, he couldn't  _ not _ tell him and, to his relief, the man was accepting and understanding, immediately asking questions and turning back to his workbench to design new noise cancelling headphones fit for his super hearing.

Once school was over - it felt longer than usual with Ned away visiting family and MJ sick at home - Peter headed straight to the front stairs. It wasn’t long before he spotted Happy, looking grumpy as ever, standing next to another of Mr. Stark's fancy cars. When the boy only greeted him with a tired smile instead of his usual "hey Happy" followed by a non-stop rambling about his day, the man furrowed his eyebrows and studied the kid's face.

"Hey kid!", he said. "Everything okay?", to which the boy only offered a shrug in response.

"School was that bad today, huh?", the man attempted to joke, hoping to fill the awkward silence.

Finally noticing that Peter wasn't going to talk, the driver opened the car's back door for the kid to get in, then walked around the vehicle to get in the driver's seat and slowly pulled away from the school. During the ride to the Tower, the teen silently pleaded for his senses to just  _ calm down _ while he pretended not to see Happy's worried glances through the rear view mirror. When they finally arrived, Peter rushed out of the car after thanking the driver with a wobbly smile, though the smile grew bigger once he saw his mentor waiting for him at the entrance. 

To the boy's relief, the duo worked quietly in the lab, each silently tinkering on their own suits, doing whatever repair was needed. They both had a lot of work to do after their most recent mission fighting yet another group of aliens who had nothing better to do than invade Earth and cause some minor damage to the city. 

Still, Peter could hear the buzzing of every single electronic in the room, the whirring of the bots roaming around, the clank of metal tools against each other, voices and footsteps around the nearby floors. It was all _ too much _ . He could still taste the spicy mayonnaise from the sandwich he had at lunch. He couldn't avoid the lights sharply reflecting on the tools, and his clothes seemed to get itchier by the second. It was all too much, too much, too much. Before he could stop himself, he felt his fists hitting on the side of his head repeatedly.

"...ter? Peter! Kid, what's going on?"

Peter realized too late that, when his mentor didn't get a response, he had reached his hand to touch the boy's shoulder. In response, he let out a loud shriek, threw himself to the ground in a sitting position with his knees up to his chest and started rocking back and forth, while still hitting his head with his hands.

"Shit, kid! I'm sorry, I won't touch you anymore", he heard Mr. Stark say. "What can I do to help you?", the man frantically asked while trying to stay calm for the boy's sake.

Peter wanted to answer, but he couldn't. All he could do at this point was cry and stim to try to regulate himself, but it wasn't working. Through the corner of his eye, the boy could see his mentor searching for something on the drawers, until he seemed to have finally found what he was looking for: the extra pairs of ear defenders and sunglasses they had made to be kept at the Tower in case of emergencies like this one. 

Slipping those items on took some work, both due to Peter's agitated stimming and his temporary aversion to touch, but eventually they managed to put both in place. All they could do now was wait for it to pass.

After some time, Peter started calming down, his fists started nervously flapping instead of going in contact with his head, his rocking reached a slower pace, and his sobs eventually died down, though the tear stains were still evident on his red and swollen cheeks. While he got his breathing to a steadier rhythm, he could feel Mr. Stark’s worried gaze on him. He carefully adjusted his ear defenders and sighed, knowing what was to come. Just as he did so, the man started talking.

"How are you feeling now?", he asked carefully, voice soft and only above a whisper.

"Exhausted. I'm feeling better though, sorry about that", the boy responded.

"Yeah, and what exactly was  _ that _ ?" Mr. Stark questioned, studying the boy's face under the dark sunglasses. "It looked different from your shutdowns"

"A meltdown. I don't have them as often, but it happens sometimes when I get too overstimulated."

"FRIDAY, be a dear and search for any kind of material on meltdowns by autistic people and send it to my personal StarkPad", Mr. Stark said while looking at the ceiling, a habit he'd gotten from the boy. 

"And you, kid", he continued, this time turning back to the teen, "tell me how I can help you when this kind of thing happens so I don't freak out again. I've got a heart condition, you know?" he joked. "And for fuck's sake, talk to me when you're not feeling good so you don't have to go through episodes like that when it's preventable". 

Peter only nodded tiredly in response, offering a lazy smile to the man. He carefully handed his sunglasses and ear defenders back to his mentor, who then asked Dum-E to silently put them back in the drawer that was still open.

Mr. Stark stood up, asking Peter if he was okay to be touched now and, seeing the teen nod in response, offered his hands to help him up as well, then guided him to the elevator outside the lab, telling FRIDAY to take them to his personal floor. He hugged the boy sideways, patting softly at his arm, and asked:

"So, what do you say I make us some nice hot chocolate while you choose a movie? It's a Friday, I'm texting May to inform her we're having a sleepover tonight"

Though exhausted, Peter perked up at that, smiling at his mentor in gratitude, before walking out of the elevator and plopping himself down on the couch. 

"FRIDAY, put on Hercules, please!" said the boy in a low and raspy voice due to his crying minutes ago.

Mr. Stark returned to the room with two mugs, handing one to Peter, who had gotten into a comfortable sitting position, then sat by his side on the couch. The comforting hot drink added to his exhaustion after his meltdown made the boy sleepy, and his eyes soon started drooping. Mr. Stark noticed, pulled him carefully to his chest and started running his fingers through the kid's soft curls. It didn't take long for Peter to fall asleep on his mentor's chest to the sound of the Muses singing on the dimly lit tv.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, please leave a comment and kudos if you did, I crave feedbacks!  
> Any kind of constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't be rude to me or anyone in the comment session.  
> If you want more stories like this, or have any requests for more autistic Peter Parker stuff, let me know, I'm willing to write more!  
> Thanks again to [Mr_Lonely](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Lonely) for the help!  
> Feel free to interact with me on tumblr at [marvelousbutterfly!](https://marvelousbutterfly.tumblr.com)  
> Again, thank you all so much for giving this a chance, let me know what you think of it! <3


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